Marc Wadsworth
His writing in the blog 'Deaths expose France's hidden racism' painted stark word pictures. The article had a vividness and immediacy unrivalled by the other contenders in the competition to find the best blogger on The-Latest.
Yet, as we say in the 'Blogging' advice on this site, creative writing and personal opinion is not enough. Well-researched facts can turn a work-a-day piece of journalism into something a bit special. And that's precisely how Thomas L. Blair won top prize with his gripping blog about the aftermath of the November 2007 Paris uprising by youth following the death of two of their number at the hands of the police. He tackled the story from an alternative angle from that of the so-called mainstream news media, which is precisely what The-Latest is here to do. Furthermore, Blair did not just pose problems he also suggested solutions.
Runner up was an off-beat, wacky offering titled 'Proud to be a blogaholic' by The-Latest's most prolific and dedicated blogger, Chris Gaynor, whose work has come on in leaps and bounds over the past year. Gaynor deserves his own column on a national tabloid newspaper. At his best, he is as good as the populist Jon Gaunt, of the Murdoch Sun, striking a chord which resonates with the reader.
So, while Blair will pocket £50, Gaynor is now the proud owner of a Special Commendation. Congratulations also to the other four short-listed bloggers: Phil Simms (Sudan's teddy bear fiasco), Bjorn-Ruben Thomassen (Get out of my way please), Rebecca Williams (Jammin on the journey of life) and Yamei Xie (You'd better rob me, it's getting dark). Thanks to everyone else who took part. Keep blogging because your work has inspired me so much I intend to run the competiton again, as soon as The-Latest can afford it.
Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
Brian Usher is photography consultant for The-Latest.Com. He is a highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. Brian has featured in several books and has been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.
Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals. She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.
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